


You can’t lie to the stars

by cottagecrowcore



Category: The Arcana (Visual Novel)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - College/University, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, M/M, Stargazing
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-09
Updated: 2021-01-09
Packaged: 2021-03-13 01:35:57
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,123
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28645341
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cottagecrowcore/pseuds/cottagecrowcore
Summary: It’s funny how being up on a rooftop under the stars can make you so prone to honesty.a fun little drabble for the vesuvia university au by ru_art85 and orenjihime2.0 on instagram
Relationships: Apprentice/Julian Devorak, Julian Devorak/Original Male Character(s)
Kudos: 5





	You can’t lie to the stars

There was a certain element to being awake far past when you should’ve gone to bed that was exhilarating. It’s the feeling of watching the world sleep; and your only company is the stars that shine overhead. That was what Gale would’ve said if someone were to ask him why he was sitting on the roof of the EAA house at three in the morning. Or, well, he would say that if he could manage to not stutter and trip over his words and go quiet. 

He had no doubt that there were people who would find it lonely up there on the roof so late, but he enjoyed it. The crisp chill of the night air, the silence, and the stars gave him time to think. Oh, he was going to regret this in the morning. Then again, he woke up tired no matter how long he slept, so why bother?

The sound of soft footsteps interrupted his thoughts. He wondered who else would go up to the lonely rooftop at this hour, and felt a flicker of annoyance at having his silence broken. When he turned his head towards the source of the noise, he saw Julian Devorak. His housemate, a pre-med student. Gale didn’t know him that well, preferring to simply watch. He figured that someone like Julian, someone with charisma, someone who he could see going places in life, would want nothing with the quiet little misfit that he was. 

A flicker of surprise crossed Julian’s expression before the corners of his mouth curved into a smile. “Ah, Gale, is it? I didn’t know you came up here.”

“I, uh, d-didn’t know you came up here either.” Gale leaned against the short, thin half-wall that served as the only thing keeping him from falling however many stories the building was until he hit the ground as a pile of shattered bones in a broken body. Since he was sitting, there was no risk of flipping backwards and taking that dive, but it was such a small barrier.

Julian sat down next to him, and Gale found himself liking the warmth of another body. “I’m assuming you’re having trouble sleeping as well.”

“Yeah. That, and I like it up here.” Thought flowed through his mind, and if he were in one of those MRI machines the pre-med students were learning about now, he supposed that his brain would be flashing like strobe lights as his mind went on its own tangent. “I took a class on astrophysics over the summer once when I was in high school. I still remember a few things from it.”

“I can’t say I know much about astrophysics, but I do know the constellations. My grandmothers made sure of that.” He pointed to a collection of stars off in the distance. “Orion is visible tonight.”

Gale pointed to a cluster of bright stars near Orion. “And those are the Pleiades. In Greek mythology, they were seven daughters of Atlas, the titan who carried the sky on his shoulders. Orion wanted them, they didn’t want him, so he chased them all over. The Pleiades begged Zeus to put an end to it, so he turned them all into stars. To this day, he still hasn’t caught them.”

“Color me impressed. Astrophysics, mythology, and… your majors are creative writing and botany, correct? You always did strike me as a jack of all trades, master of none.”

“...but better than a master of one,” Gale finished, hiding his surprise over the fact that Julian had any sort of impression of him before now. It wasn’t exactly like he put himself out there much.

“So you know the full phrase too?” He looked at him, and Gale’s eyes flicked to his face for a moment. He seemed more relaxed than he’d ever seen him before. Like the stars had brought out some softer side of him.

“I always liked the full version better,” Gale said with a nod. “I don’t like how they leave important bits out of sayings like that. Like the whole ‘blood is thicker than water’ thing.”

“Can’t say I’ve heard the full version of that one.”

“The blood of the covenant is thicker than the water of the womb.” He pressed a cold hand to the side of his own face. “Relationships formed by choice are stronger than ones you were born into. I’ve always found it comforting.”

Julian nodded as he processed the implications there. “You’re having problems with your family?”

The brief thought of _what am I doing?_ crossed Gale’s mind. He didn’t talk this much around people he barely knew, and he certainly didn’t spill his guts to them. Maybe, he thought, it was the stars. He could lie and deflect and go quiet, but he couldn’t lie to the stars.

“...Yeah. Yeah, I do.”

“I, er, I’m sorry if I was prying, I was just curious, you don’t have to elaborate–”

Without even thinking, Gale rested his head on his shoulder. “‘S fine. Sorry if I ruined the mood there.”

“No, no, I was the one who asked.”

Silence hung over them, though not in the way the axe looms over the neck of a man sentenced to death. It was more akin to a blanket held up by pillows and bedposts in a childhood fort. Gale drank it in, enjoying it for a good few moments before he broke it.

“Do you see that star over there?” He pointed at one of the many pinpricks of light scattered across the sky. “That’s Betelgeuse. It’s 500 light years away from us.”

“Well, I know enough about space to know that that means we’re seeing its light from 500 years ago.” To his surprise, Julian wrapped his arm around his shoulders and he pulled in closer.

“Exactly. And Betelgeuse is a red giant, so it could go supernova any time now. Maybe it already has and we don’t know because the Betelgeuse we’re seeing is Betelgeuse 500 years ago.”

“Huh. We’re looking into the past now. I never thought about it that way.”

“Mhm. That’s what I like about stargazing, it’s like—“ his sentence was interrupted by a yawn “—like a time machine. Does that make sense?”

“Are you tired, Gale? I can help you back to your room.” When he looked up, he saw the flickers of concern in Julian’s eyes.

“I mean, I’m tired. But I like it up here.” He let his eyes flutter shut, resting his head against the warmth of the body next to him.

Despite the nighttime chill, despite the hard surface of the roof, despite the late hour, it was the most restful sleep that both Julian and Gale had had in a long time.


End file.
